Automotive toy boat



y ,1930. J. D. VAN VLIET 1,770,248

AUTOMOTIVE TOY BOAT Filed Avg. 3. 1927 2 sheets-sheet 1 1 N VEN TOR.

July 8, 1930. J. D. VAN VLIET AUTOMOTIVE TOY BOAT Filed Aug. 5. 1927 ZSheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 8, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN DUMANS VA-N 'VLIE'I', F CINCINNATI, OHIO Application filed August 3, 1927. Serial No. 210,389.

My invention relates to automotive toyboats, and more especially to such in which oars constitute the means for locomotion.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a toy-boat pro elled by oars, the movements of which 0 osely simulate the movements of the oars of an actual rowboat, and wherein the figures which apparently actuate the oars have co-ordinated movement 1 with them.

A further object is to provide a boat capable of automatically changin its direction while in motion and also capab e of returning to its starting point.

With these objects in view, the invention consists in the combinations hereinafter set forth and more specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention, in its outer aspect resembling a Viking ship.

Fig. 2 shows a front aspect of the boat as depicted in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows mechanism for actuating the oars.

Fig. 4 shows certain modifications which can be introduced in the mechanism of Fig. 3, so and' also shows how this mechanism co-acts in the operation of the rudder.

Fig. 5 shows a modification of the means whereby the rudder is operated.

As already pointed out, an object of the invention is to provide a toy-boat propelled by oars. I do not limit myself to any particular kind of rowing vessel and the embodiment may take the form of a Viking ship, a Roman galley provided with one or more tiers of oars, a whale boat or any other kind of oar-propelled vessel.

Referring to Fig. 1, it is seen that this embodiment represents a Viking ship of distinctive design, comprising the hull 1 having the,

ornamented bow 2, the raised stern 3, the mast-seat 4 in which the mast 5 is removably inserted, the yard 6 carrying the sail 7, the rowers 8 having co-ordinated movement with the oars 9, the steersman 10 placed in the 60 raised poop 11 handling the steering oar 12,

and therudder 13. The oars are actuated by a mechanism, contained in the hull of the boat, which is shown in Fig. 3. The oars 9 have universal pivotah connection with the horlzontally disposed bar 19 which is pivotally supported on the links 22 and 22', the link 22 being pivotally supported on the outer arm of the lever 23 fulcrumed on the shaft 24 which is in any suitable manner fixed in the hull 1. Link 22 is pivotally supported on the outer arm of the lever 25 fulcrumed on shaft 26. Levers 23 and 25 have the gear segments 23 meshin with 25 respectively, lever 25 being provide with the arm 27 which has pivotal connection with lever 28 slidably c5 gulded in the pivotall mounted guides 29. Lever 28 has at its furt or end the cam roller 34 engaging with the cam track 35 of the cam 36 mounted on the shaft 37 having bearin in the bracket 37" or being otherwise suita bly supported in the hull. Intermediate its extremities link 22 has pivotal connection with the lever 30 guided in the pivotally mounted guides 31. Lever 30 has the roller 32 engaging with the camtrack 33 of the cam 36 mount- 76 ed on shaft 37. Cam 36 is actuated by the windable coil spring 38 or by any other suitable means adapted to impart rotary motion thereto. The Figure 8 shown in dotted lines represents one of the oarsmen and is actuated 80 by the oars 9 which are fulcrumed in the oarlocks 21 which are either mounted in the gun..- wale of the hull or in otherwise suitable supported relation connected therewith. The body of the rower 8 is pivoted on the pin 17 the arm 14 being pivotally attached to the body by the pin 15 at the shoulder. The hand 16 has pivotal connection with the handle of the oar 9. Rotation of the cam 36 imparts a rocking motion to the links 22 and 22 and consequently to the horizontal member 19, the oars being thus swung backward and forward pivotally in their oarlocks. In order to impart an even and continuous forward motion to the boat, it is of course necessary that the oars be lifted completely clear of the water during the back stroke. This is automatically accomplished by the lever 28 governed by the camtrack 35 which imparts a rocking motion to the lever 25, the gear segmcnt 25 of which meshes with gear segment 23* of lever 23 and imparts a reverse rocking motion thereunto. The levers 23 and 25 thus assume periodically the raised position shown in dotted lines, the oars being correspondingly raised or lowered in accordance with the lowering or raising of the horizontal member 19. Inasmuch as the boat will progress at a certain speed, a straight up-and-down stroke of the oars would cause a periodic retardation of forward motion. This detriment is obviated by suitable design of the camtracks whereb the up-and-down strokes are effected at an oblique angle and made to merge with the backand forward strokes; the complete cycle of movements of the oars being then as represented by the diagram in dot-dashed lines, showing the forward stroke A, the femerging upstroke B, the back stroke C, and

the immersion or downward stroke D, the direction of movement being of course reversed for the parts of the oar at the inside of the oarlocks. The human figure, articulated as described, is alternately pulled forward or pushed backward in accordance with the motion of the horizontal member 19, and the arms 14 are alternately raised or lowered dur ing the downstroke and upstroke, thus creating the illusion of the figure actuating the oars. Although only one figure is shown in Fig. 3 it is understood that there is a figure at each of the oar pivots 20 as shown in Fig. 1. It is obvious that a great many modifications and equivalents can be introduced in the actuating mechanism, all falling within the scope of the invention, such as the variation shown in Fig. 4. The links 39, connected by the tie-rod 40 are pivotally mounted on the bar 44 having support in the bell cranks 45 which are connected by the member 46 where by their co-operative motion is effected. The links 39 have vertically guided pivotal mounting by such means as the slots 41 receiving pins 42 on the fixed support 43, in which the bell cranks 45 have pivotal mounting. The links 39 have pivotal connection at their upper extremity with the oars 9 fulcrumed in-the oarlocks 21, it being understood that a human figure (not shown in the drawing), similar to the one indicate by numeral 8 in Fig. 3, is installed at each oar in co-ordinated movable relation thereto. Bellcrank 51 rotatably mounted on shaft 66 has slotted engagement with rod 44 and has the roller 52 in following engagement with track 53 of cam 50 mounted on shaft 55. Bellcrank 48 rotatably mounted on shaft 68 has the slot 69 in its lower arm in sliding engagement with pin 47 on tierod 46 and also has roller 49 on its horizontal arm in following engagement with the camtrack 49 the rotation of the cam causing the rod 46 to move alternately back and forth, thereby actuating the bellcranks 45 which causes the links 39 to be raised or lowered while retaining their pivotal connection with pins 42 through the slots 41. The links 39 are thus periodically rocked back and forth by bellcrank 51 and raised and lowered by bellcrank 48, thus inducing the required movements of the oars 9 by adequate conformation and timing of the camtracks 49 and 53 respectively; the camshaft 55 being actuated by suitable means such as the windable coil spring 38.

Provision has been made for automatically operating the rudder by the pinion 56 mounted on shaft 55 meshing with gear 57 on shaft 65 on which is mounted bevel pinion 58 meshing with bevel gear 59 on vertical shaft 60. .On shaft 60 is also mounted cam 61 having camtrack 62 in which engages camroller 62 carried by lever 63 actuating ruddershaft 64 carrying rudder 13 and which has hinged mounting on the sternpost of the boat.

The transmission ratio of the main drive shaft as actuated by the spring means to the rudder camshaft may be such as to provide for one or more complete revolutions of the cam 61 if one cycle of evolutions of the boat is required during the entire working period of the actuating means; the camtrack 62 in this case should be so conformed as to operate the rudder after a certain length of run whereby the boat is turned around and returns to its starting point, executing any desired change of course in the meantime. A great variety of trajectories can be contrived by the use of different cams. With this end in view the cam 61 is mounted on the shaft 60 in any suitable manner permitting its easy removal and its replacement by a different cam. In order to facilitate the introduction of the cam roller 62 into the cam track 62, the lever 63 is provided with the hinge 64", the hinged part 64 being kept in position by the leaf spring 65. If the roller engages with the upper surface of the cam disc, the lever can be swung upwards and out of the way while the new cam is being installed. In the case of the roller engaging with a camtrack in the under surface of the cam as shown in the drawing, the hinged arm of the lever 63 can be depressed until the roller has engaged with the camtrack. A modification of the rudder operating device is shown in Fig. 5, the rudder cam 66 is placed vertically and in any suitable and preferably detachable manner mounted in the hull. Any of the cams described may be of the barrel type or of the open type, in which latter case suitable spring means have to be'employed to keep the roller levers in engagement with the cams. It is understood that in every case where rollers are mentioned, pins and the like may be employed instead. It is of course immaterial which one of the camshafts is actuated by the spring means, provided due allowance be made for the desired relative speeds of the various transmission elements.

It will be observed that in Fig. 1, which represents a Viking ship, the rowers face the bow, contrary to the usual practice, the push in stroke being often employed in boats of this type. In all cases mentioned, rowers may be placed side by side, each actuating a single oar. The oars may be made detachable, the shafts 98 remaining fulcrumed in the oarlocks 21 and being adapted to detachably receive the blades, which permits of their removal and replacement in case of breakage.

A great deal of amusement can be derived from providing the boat with mast and sail and setting it going in a certaindirection with reference to the wind, the automatic rudder action then turning the ship at some time head on to the wind, in which case the forward resistance has to be overcome by the oars until the ship is once more at a favorable angle to the wind, the initial adjustment of the sail and selection of the proper rudder cam to meet certain conditions being a matter of experience and judgment. The toy, apart from its amusing qualities, has therefore a highly instructive value and imparts a certain knowledge of seamanship to its possessor.

It is understood that the sail can be adj usted at any desired angle, either by turning the yard about the mast or by turning mast and yard together in the mast seat.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. An automotive toy boat comprising in combination, a hull, oars fulcrumed in said hull and projecting laterally from the opposite sides thereof, a horizontal member with which said oars have universally jointed supported connection, levers pivotally mounted in said hull having leverageengagement one with the other, link connections between each of said levers and said horizontal member, an eccentric rotary element mounted in the hull with which said links and pivoted levers have following connection, the rotation of said eccentric rotary element imparting a periodic horizontally reciprocating motion to said horizontal member and a periodic rockin mption to said pivoted levers whereby said horizontal member is correspondingly raised and lowered, the cyclic forward, upward, downward and backward motions of the horizontal member imparting reversed mov ement to the oars, and means in said hull for actuating said eccentric rotary element.

2. An automotive toy boat comprising in combination, a hull, oars fulcrumed in said hull andprojectinglaterally from the opposite sides thereof, a horizontal member with which said oars have universally jointed supported connection, figures, one for each oar or each pair of oars, each figure including a body having pivoted mounting in a fixed integral part of the hull, and upper limbs pivoted in the body having articulated connection with'the respective car or oars, lever means for imparting .a reciprocating foreand-aft motion to said horizontal member, lever means for imparting a reciprocating upand-down motion to said horizontal member an eccentric rotary element having mounting in said hull with which said firstand secondnamed lever means have following connection, the rotation of said eccentric rotary member element alternately actuating both said lever means whereby a cyclic horizontally forward, downward, horizontally backward and upward motion is imparted to said horizontal member and a reversed cyclic motion to the oars, said pivoted figures having following movement with the horizontal member and with the oars, and means mounted in said hull actuating said eccentric rotary element.

3. An automotive toy boat comprising in combination, a hull, oars fulcrumed in said hull and projecting laterally from the opposite sides thereof, a horizontal member with which said oars have universally jointed supported connection two lovers pivotally mounted in said bull in arcuately toothed engagement one with the other, link connection between each lever and said horizontal member, an eccentric rotary element mounted in said hull with which one of said link connections has following connection whereby a horizontally reciprocating motion is imparted to said horizontal member, a second eccentric rotary element with which one of said arcuately toothed pivoted levers has following connection whereby a rocking motion is imparted to both said levers and said horizontal member correspondingly raised and lowered, the eccentricity of said rotary elements being so timed that a cyclic upward, horizontally forward, downward and horizontally backward motion is imparted to said horizontal member and a reversed cyclic motion to the oars, and means mounted in said hull for actuating said eccentric rotary elements.

4. An automotive toy boat comprising in combination, a hull, oars fulcrumed in said hull and projecting laterally from the opposite sides thereof, a horizontal member with which said oars have universally jointed supported connection, two levers pivotally mounted in said hull having leverage engagement one with the other, link connection between each lever and said horizontal member, a rotary cam mounted in said hull having two camtracks one of said link connections having following connectionwith the one camtrac-k and one of said pivoted levers having following connection with the other camtrack, the first camtrack on rotation of said cam imparting a reciprocating horizontally fore-and-aft motion to said horizontal mem ber, the second camtrack imparting a rocking motion to both said pivoted levers whereby said horizontal member is correspondingly raised or lowered, the eccentricity of said camtracks being so arranged that a cyclic upward, forward, downward and backward motion' is imparted to said horizontal member and a reversed cyclic motion to the oars, and means mounted in said hull for rotating said cam.

5. In an automotive toy boat having a hull, the combination of propulsion means comprising oars fulcrumed in said hull and proecting laterally from the opposite sides there of, lever means for imparting acyclic rectilinear forward, upward, backward and downward motion to the oars, two eccentric rotary elements with which said lever means have following connection and motor means actuating said eccentric rotary elements, with steering means co-active with said propulsion means, said steering means comprising: a rudder having pivoted mounting in said hull, a rotatably mounted shaft, a cam mounted on said shaft, a member for operating said rudder having following connection with said cam, and transmission means operated by the said motor means for rotating said shaft and cam.

6. In an automotive toy boat having a hull, the combination of propulsion means comprising oars fulcrumed in said hull and projecting laterally from the opposite sides thereof, lever means for imparting a cyclic rectilinear forward, upward, backward and downward motion to the oars, two eccentric rotary elements with which said lever means have following connection, and motor means actuating said eccentric rotary elements, with steering means co-active with said propulsion means, said steering means comprising: a rudder having pivoted mounting in said hull, a rotatably mounted shaft, a cam removably mounted on said shaft and turnable therewith, a hinged member for operating said rudder having following connection with said cam, resilient means normally keeping said hinged member in contact with said cam permitting the said hinged member to be swung clear of the cam for the removal or installation thereof, and transmission means operated by the propulsion motor means for rotating said shaft and cam.

J. D. VAN VLIET. 

